This was an amazing shot by Marco Belinelli, one that gave the Bulls a hard-fought 100-99 overtime victory over the Celtics in Boston on Friday.
But it shouldn’t have come to this for the Celtics.
Boston led this game by three with 20 seconds left in regulation. After a free throw from Kirk Hinrich cut the lead to two, the Celtics inbounded the ball to Paul Pierce along the sideline. He was quickly double-teamed, and the referee whistled an even quicker tie-up, resulting in a very questionable jump ball situation.
It didn’t appear that either of the Bulls surrounding Pierce had any possession of the ball, much less one that was shared enough to result in the call that was made. Nevertheless, when the ball went up with nine seconds remaining, and it was tipped to Belinelli, who pushed the ball up the floor.
Belinelli essentially turned it over with the game theoretically on the line, getting stripped as he drove into the lane with the clock winding down. The ball bounced to a wide-open Hinrich, however, who calmly knocked down the 15-footer to send the game to overtime.
Once again down the stretch, Belinelli found himself in control of the ball with the game in the balance. And again, he made a play that was questionable, at best.
With the Bulls trailing by one and 43 seconds remaining in the extra session, Belinelli found himself forced into the corner and launching a fadeaway three-pointer that barely drew iron. It was a horrendous possession, and far worse than the one that he used to end regulation.
These are worth mentioning, because if you’re the Celtics, you can essentially take comfort in the fact that you lost because of a questionable call near the end of the fourth quarter, followed by a lucky shot from a player falling down who had made terrible decisions on meaningful possessions before hitting this somewhat miraculous shot.
The Bulls got big games from Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah on both ends of the floor, and a nice offensive contribution from Rip Hamilton, who finished with 20 points. The Celtics got a season high 30 points from Rajon Rondo, to go along with seven assists.
All of this is to say that despite the highlight you’ll no doubt see on an endless loop in the hours that follow, Belinelli was not very good in this game. But indisputably, he made the shot that mattered most.